Citroën has won the FIA World Touring Car Championship manufacturers’ crown with a dominant 1-2-3-4 in the opening race at the Shanghai International Circuit.

It was an incredible feat from the French manufacturer in its opening season, but the achievement was trumped by Morocco’s Mehdi Bennani, who claimed an emotional breakthrough win in Race 2.

Race 1: Citroën wins the title with historic 1-2-3-4

Championship leader José María López claimed a lights-to-flag victory in the opener, fending off a hard-charging Ma Qing Hua in the opening laps before eking out a two-second margin by the end of the 14-lap race. Teammates Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb completed the French carmaker’s whitewash of the race, crossing the line a few tenths of a second apart after their own spirited battle for the final spot on the podium.

The start of the race saw polesitter López convert his grid advantage into the lead of the race, with Ma and Muller slotting in behind. Norbert Michelisz managed to retain his fourth place off the line, while Tiago Monteiro and Gabriele Tarquini got their Hondas ahead of the slow-starting Loeb.

Their joy was short-lived, with Loeb quickly re-addressing the situation to move back into fifth. The multiple rally champion then set about chasing down Michelisz, and had to contend with the Hungarian’s spirited defence of the position until the superiority of the Citroën shone through and he got ahead with a late lunge at the hairpin.

From that point, an historic Citroën 1-2-3-4 and steamrolling of the WTCC Manufacturers’ Championship was never in doubt. Ma’s challenge against López was ultimately broken in the final laps as the backmarkers came into play, while Loeb was able to reel in Muller over the same period to finish right in the veteran’s wheel tracks.

Michelisz led home the works Hondas of Tarquini and Monteiro, while Tom Coronel was the lead RML Chevrolet in eighth from Race 2 front-row starters Hugo Valente and Mehdi Bennani.

Tom Chilton probably should have finished in fifth or thereabouts, but the Englishman suffered a rather freak retirement when his car’s right-rear wheel fell off the car on the third lap of the race. Compatriot James Thompson was forced to retire his LADA on the opening lap with a terminal mechanical failure; the fellow LADA of the luckless Mikhail Kozlovskiy was also a DNF.

TC2T class debutant Michael Lok caused some concern when he beached his Campos SEAT León in the final corner gravel trap with a deranged front left suspension. The Hong Kong driver managed to knock his driver’s side mirror off on Lap 5 against the left-hander’s apex tyre bundle, and then finished the job off a lap later when he hit the stack even harder.

The only other major drama came late in the race when Rob Huff and Dušan Borković tangled at Turn 1 while disputing eleventh place. Both suffered punctured tyres in the contact, promoting Gianni Morbidelli into the spot.

In the TC2T class, the imperious Franz Engstler won the Yokohama Trophy with another class win in his BMW, marking the German’s first title in the WTCC.

2014 FIA WTCC Race of Shanghai – Race 1 (14 laps):

Driver

Team

Result

Class

1.

José María López

Total Citroën Racing C-Elysée

26:15.097

TC1

2.

Ma Qing Hua

Total Citroën Racing C-Elysée

+ 2.089

TC1

3.

Yvan Muller

Total Citroën Racing C-Elysée

+ 5.793

TC1

4.

Sébastien Loeb

Total Citroën Racing C-Elysée

+ 6.175

TC1

5.

Norbert Michelisz

Zengõ Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC

+ 16.050

TC1

6.

Gabriele Tarquini

Castrol Honda Racing Team Civic WTCC

+ 16.483

TC1

7.

Tiago Monteiro

Castrol Honda Racing Team Civic WTCC

+ 18.295

TC1

8.

Tom Coronel

ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 22.058

TC1

9.

Hugo Valente

Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 25.896

TC1

10.

Mehdi Bennani

Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCC

+ 26.278

TC1

11.

Gianni Morbidelli

Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 47.194

TC1

12.

Dušan Borković

Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 53.710

TC1

13.

Franz Engstler

Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW E90 320TC

+ 1:29.282

TC2

14.

John Filippi

Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC

+ 1:43.122

TC2

15.

Rob Huff

LADA Sport Granta Sport 1.6T

– 1 lap

TC1

16.

Felipe de Souza

Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW E90 320TC

– 1 lap

TC2

17.

René Münnich

Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze

– 4 laps

TC1

Not Classified

DNF.

Mikhail Kozlovskiy

LADA Sport Granta Sport 1.6T

6 laps

TC1

DNF.

Michael Lok

Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC

5 laps

TC2

DNF.

Tom Chilton

ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze

2 laps

TC1

DNF.

James Thompson

LADA Sport Granta Sport 1.6T

0 laps

TC1

Race 2: Bennani finally breaks through

Moroccan racer Mehdi Bennani has claimed an emotional maiden WTCC win – and the first for the current Honda Civic WTCC racer – in Sunday’s second race.

An emotional Bennani sobbed on his cool-down lap and on the podium after finishing 2.5 seconds clear of fellow Honda runner Tiago Monteiro; were it not for the retirement of Gabriele Tarquini, the Japanese carmaker would have claimed an emphatic 1-2-3. Championship leader José María López claimed the final podium spot, extending his championship lead over teammate and sole title rival Yvan Muller when the Frenchman was forced to retire after being hit by Sébastien Loeb at the hairpin.

“This is a fantastic feeling – I think I may be dreaming,” a tearful Bennani said after the race.

“Winning is something so special that I have been thinking about for years now. I want to thank His Majesty the King of Morocco for having made this possible, in putting me here amongst the best drivers in the World Championship. I want also to thank my family for the total support, Honda, J.A.S. Motorsport and of course my Proteam Racing of Valmiro Presenzini . I gave it my 100% from the start to the very end. It’s something wonderful.”

Despite Citroën’s dominance of the season, the result marked the four races where a different manufacturer has claimed victory, following the previous successes for Chevrolet and LADA in Beijing, and José María López’s victory in Sunday’s opening race.

Starting from pole position for Race 2, Bennani swept into the lead ahead of a slow-starting Hugo Valente, who was overtaken by the works Hondas of Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro.

The Citroën duo of Muller and Loeb were hot on Valente’s wheeltracks, and in their attempts to get by the Frenchman, the two C-Elysées tangled at the hairpin in a major ‘own goal’ for the outfit less than an hour after celebrating its Manufacturer Championship win. Loeb made a late lunge on Muller at the right-hander but was unable to back out of the move in time, clobbering Muller’s right-rear suspension. A furious Muller pulled into the pits, while Loeb managed to cross the finish line in fourth, only to be hit with a 30-second post-race time penalty for causing the collision.

Up at the front, Bennani began to open up a gap while Tarquini and Monteiro played rear gunner ahead of López, who sneaked up into fourth after the Loeb-Muller contact. Tarquini’s run ended after five laps when the Italian retired with a technical problem.

Loeb and Michelisz staged a spirited battle for fourth – ultimately resolved in the Frenchman’s favour – and that left the Hungarian to fend off the advances of Ma Qing Hua in the fourth Citroën.

There was also a terrific scrap among the RML Chevrolets, with Hugo Valente, Tom Coronel, Tom Chilton (who charged through the field after starting in the pit lane) and Dušan Borković. A mistake at the hairpin by Valente allowed Chilton through, leaving the Frenchman to defend hard against his Serbian teammate. James Thompson finished right behind the pair, and was subsequently promoted to tenth after Loeb’s penalty.

2014 FIA WTCC Race of Shanghai – Race 2 (14 laps):

Driver

Team

Result

Class

1.

Mehdi Bennani

Proteam Racing Honda Civic WTCC

26:21.882

TC1

2.

Tiago Monteiro

Castrol Honda Racing Team Civic WTCC

+ 2.590

TC1

3.

José María López

Total Citroën Racing C-Elysée

+ 4.041

TC1

4.

Norbert Michelisz

Zengõ Motorsport Honda Civic WTCC

+ 13.976

TC1

5.

Ma Qing Hua

Total Citroën Racing C-Elysée

+ 14.416

TC1

6.

Tom Coronel

ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 21.725

TC1

7.

Tom Chilton

ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 22.933

TC1

8.

Hugo Valente

Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 27.276

TC1

9.

Dušan Borković

Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 27.855

TC1

10.

James Thompson

LADA Sport Granta Sport 1.6T

+ 28.028

TC1

11.

Mikhail Kozlovskiy

LADA Sport Granta Sport 1.6T

+ 39.940

TC1

12.

Sébastien Loeb*

Total Citroën Racing C-Elysée

+ 41.238

TC1

13.

Gianni Morbidelli

Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze

+ 1:06.558

TC1

14.

Franz Engstler

Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW E90 320TC

+ 1:11.237

TC2

15.

John Filippi

Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC

+ 1:35.752

TC2

16.

Felipe de Souza

Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW E90 320TC

– 1 lap

TC2

Not Classified

DNF.

René Münnich

Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze

6 laps

TC1

DNF.

Gabriele Tarquini

Castrol Honda Racing Team Civic WTCC

5 laps

TC1

DNF.

Rob Huff

LADA Sport Granta Sport 1.6T

4 laps

TC1

DNF.

Yvan Muller

Total Citroën Racing C-Elysée

2 laps

TC1

DNS.

Michael Lok

Campos Racing SEAT León WTCC

TC2

* Sebastien Loeb was awarded a 30-second post-race time penalty for causing an avoidable collision with Yvan Muller.